I was just watching the 2008 World Championship on youtube. It was Steve Jaros v. Chris Barnes. I noticed that both of them hold the ball on the side. Is there any advantages/disadvantages of holding it on the side as apposed to underneath the ball? Here's the vid link:

Basically there trying to transfer all the weight of the ball to there non bowling arm to try to create a non muscled arm swing. Check out this tip from Ron Clifton Website:

I agree, Brandon hit the nail on the head as far as the initial setup goes. The less muscles your bowling hand has to start with, the easier it is to maintain that free swing. I believe that Chris Barnes is also using this hand on the side of the ball tactic throughout the majority of his swing in order to conserve energy and get the ball down the lane without rolling out with his deep inside angle. He seems to be changing his axis tilt in order to make sure the ball has enough energy from that area to clear the 10 pin, as that can become a problem.

Barnes' hand is on the side in the set up and rotates behind the ball to inside the ball in the back swing then stays behind or inside (depending on how much hook he is playing), until the release. Keeping your hand on the side of the ball throughout the swing will diminish the amount of torque you apply to the ball in your release since the hand is already on the side of the ball. Lower torque = more single pin spares.

CoachJim, I agree, but doesn't moving your hand position around change ball reaction, and in turn each release has its moment when it will work well? For example, when I move in deep, I have a lot of trouble with the ball not being able to face up and hit with any power in the pocket, so most times when I move in deep, I will take my hand and move it to the outside of the ball to some extent (about 45 degrees to the side). This helps me to help the ball to retain energy down the lane and to change the rotational axis. I think what happens is that with my hand in a 45 degree position at the beginning of the release, it allows me to get the ball to change its rotational degree to almost 90 degrees to the pins, and that causes a little more skid snap reaction. Am I wrong here?

Different hand positions at the end of your shot are what change axis rotation.

Slowinski--Four-point Release System

I'm not a coach, but my guess is your hand position at the beginning of the shot should be the same even if you're using different releases.

That method will produce hook, but not carry as well as winding your hand around the ball, keeping it there to the release then letting it unwind through the middle of the ball, as your thumb exits. This is why you don't see Barnes, or any of the others on the men's tour bowling like this.

Liz Johnson makes a good living bowling this way, but she has the ball speed to keep the ball in the pocket from outside angles. Take it from me if you start keeping your hand on the side of the ball it is hard to stop, you will get the hook you are looking for and can progress fairly high in the sport, but there is a point you will get to where you will not be able to improve and most times when you hit the pocket you will leave a single pin spare.

If you decide to bowl this way know that you are going to leave plenty of 9 counts, so don't go kicking ball returns when it happens.

Sorry, I believe you misunderstood my point. I was talking about using that as another tool for your game, as far as versitility goes. My normal hand position is inside of the ball, and slightly abducted at the wrist, but it never hurts to be able to put the wrist in any position to aquire the reaction you are looking for on a given lane condition. Thats all I meant, is that there are times where that release would work great, and there are times that release will haunt you all day. It all depends on the condition, lane surface, and ball you are throwing at the time. I was asking if my theory sounded correct in that it will change your axis rotation, and will help the ball conserve energy through the heads with slower ball speeds.

@ untutored: This is true for learning to bowl, but I believe there are very valuable tools you can apply (when needed) in your setup to help you get to the pocket. For instance, if you are all the way against the ball return and the ball is still jumping, rather than going to a 3 step and standing in front of the return you could take your ball in your setup and move it towards your bodies center of gravity (normally under the shoulder line, move it towards your belly button). This will cause your body to shift left after the push away, therefore walking beside the ball return and then stepping left to get further left on that lane. The reason this happens is because your body has to adjust in order to keep from 1) falling over and 2) hitting yourself with the ball. This is a great tool because it takes all the "walk left" thinking out of the process, and this is just one thing you can change in your initial setup to keep yourself from overthinking a shot. Does that make sense?

I got your point and I wan't intending the "YOU" in my comment to mean you personally, but You in genral as in others reading this and deciding to go on the side of the ball to get the hook they are looking for and what to expect. You are correct in your comment, but there are consequences to it, even from one game to the next. I was watching the Senior tour a few years ago and Dale Eagle was on a big time roll, almost shooting 300, then the next game he left 6, single pin spares to lose the title.

Yeah, it makes sense, although neither of those specific adjustments is really available to me. I would love to be able to make minor pre-shot adjustments and have them translate to different ball reaction during my shot.

That's not what Chris Barnes is doing, though. He's inside the ball on his release for every shot, and he uses Slowinski-type release adjustments to roll with different axis rotations.



Alex: IIRC you're a slinger like myself, an open-hand player or whatever I'm supposed to call it. Right now I'm working on keeping my arm turned in the other direction, so I'm further inside the ball--not for revs obviously, but so I can be behind the ball at the release without twisting my body as violently to get there, for a more controlled and accurate motion...